By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Slovenia and Serbia will fight for gold and in the end, the absences of the Serbs will play a role. A full strength Serbia would have been the favorite. However, the team of coach Sasha Djordjevic today will have to leave it all on the court in order to beat the amazing duo of Doncic and Dragic.
Slovenia has been so far the main story of this tournament and they even have the chance to win the gold by staying unbeaten, something that did not happen for quite some time. So sit back and enjoy a game which by definition is going to be big.
Slovenia v Serbia (20:30 CET/ 21:30 local time)
The backcourt defense of Serbia will be one of the main keys of this game. So far, nobody could stop Goran Dragic and Luka Doncic. If Serbia manages to slow them down, then the hardest work for them will be done.
There’s no way to beat Slovenia if you let those two guys do their thing. That’s why Bogdan Bogdanovic will not have only to score, but also play defense, probably against Doncic. It’s not the first time they have crossed swords, they did it in the EuroLeague games between Real Madrid and Fenerbahce with Bogdanovic side being the champs.
In the paint, Boban Marjanovic and Ognjen Kuzmic once more have the advantage over Anthony Randolph and Gasper Vidmar. The main question for Serbia is the condition of point guard Stefan Jovic who is expected to play, however, it will be proven on the court if he is healthy enough to contribute.
Spain v Russia (16:00 CET/ 17:00 local time)
The third-place game is going to be special this time around. It’s the last game of Juan Carlos Navarro with the Spanish national team, as he announced himself. That’s enough motivation for the Spaniards to give them an edge against Russia.